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From upscale to down home, from traditional bakeries to modern oyster bars, eating in the Yukon is guaranteed to be as enjoyable and memorable as a northern summer musical festival or an aurora viewing experience. Amid several dozen restaurants serving up a United Nations array of dishes, no trip to Whitehorse is complete without a stop at Klondike Rib & Salmon. Located in the oldest operating building in Whitehorse, the dining room sits in an early 1900s-era canvas walled tent. Open only during the summer months, it features plenty of wild game on the menu, including reindeer, elk, bison and fresh northern fish.

"Our aim has always been to have our restaurant fit the building, fit the property and fit the territory," explains owner Donna Novecosky, who moved to Whitehorse 20 years ago from Ontario, "because that's where I picked for a road trip."

"We wanted to be Yukon for the guests and for Yukoners, too. We believe in wild, fresh and wholesome and hearty. The kind of food you'd have with your family."

The eatery's casual ambience, she adds, only punctuates the Yukon's frontier vibe.

"You're in a tent and you're gonna eat well and you're gonna have a good time," Novecosky says. "It's comfortable and relaxed. The cutlery doesn't match, you're eating fish and chips out of a gold pan. You can wear a tux or your work boots. The desserts are huge. Actually, our bread pudding is perfect for any meal of the day."

Yukon's wild frontier spirit is reflected in many of the names of dining establishments, just at it is in their menus, from Dawson City's Bonanza

Dining Room to Whitehorse's Wolf's Den Restaurant to Caribou Crossing Trading Post in Carcross to the Wolf It Down Restaurant and Bakery in Watson Lake.

But right next door to Klondike Rib & Salmon, you'll find Burnt Toast Cafe, one of a cadre of hip, new-style eateries where the menu offers such intriguing dishes as the Wish We Were in California Benny for breakfast and Pulled Pork Poutine and Truffle Oil Fries on the evening tapas menu.

"We enjoy our food," admits Burnt Toast co-creator Katja Schmidt. The Whitehorse native, whose parents emigrated from Germany after falling in love with the Yukon during a holiday, studied finance in Calgary but returned to her hometown as soon as she earned her degree.

Having recently sold Burnt Toast to new owners - who have kept the original menu - Schmidt and her business partner are now running the more traditional Cork and Bull Steakhouse and Oyster Bar. And, Schmidt adds, they are both excited about opening their Dirty Northern Public House pub in a few weeks. Located in a historic Whitehorse building, the actual bar is constructed from an old recovered copper mine beam.

Cork and Bull chef Hugh Payne says running a kitchen in the Yukon is both fun and challenging. Recruited from Vancouver two years ago, he enjoys the appreciation Whitehorse diners show as they thank him in person, taking advantage of that establishment's open kitchen.

And while he expresses some laments about how the midnight sun of the north diminishes the effectiveness of patio lanterns, he quickly adds he's grateful for the extended patio hours.

"It sure is great to get off work at 10 p.m. and it's still daylight when you order beer on a deck," Payne says. "That's pretty nice!" When asked where they like to eat in Whitehorse, Schmidt, Payne and Novecosky start reeling off names, including the Mexican Sanchez Cantina, A Taste of India, Tokyo Sushi and the classic Italian Giorgio's Cuccina, whose menu features Skewered Elk, Rack of Lamb and Alaskan Red King Crab Legs.

"People really appreciate good food here in the Yukon," Payne says. "For a city with a population of only 26,000, in Whitehorse alone the diversity is quite surprising. It's like a little downtown."

Uptown, downtown or down home, restaurateurs across the Yukon are eager to share their culinary talents.

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